Major Star RETURNS To WWE! WWE Payback 2023 Review | WrestleTalk - video Dailymotion

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00:00 I'm Pete Quinnell, and this is my review of WWE Payback 2023 in about 10 minutes.

00:11 Oli will be here later today to cover all the news surrounding CM Punk and his departure

00:15 from AEW, but for now, let's talk about a WWE B-Show, because this sure was one.

00:21 The show began with Becky Lynch vs Trish Stratus in a cage match, and there was a great video

00:25 package as per usual heading into this one, with NXT Women's Champ Tiffany Stratton

00:29 looking on from the crowd.

00:31 This was a really well worked match, made both wrestlers look great and had some really

00:34 huge spots, like Trish hitting a Widow's Peak followed by Becky hitting a Twist of

00:38 Fate, paying homage to the first Women's Cage Match competitors Victoria and Lita.

00:43 The crowd was super hot for this too, which only escalated when the big spots came out,

00:47 like a Stratus-factured near fall, a top rope bulldog, and a huge superplex from the top

00:51 of the cage after Trish had her legs caught on the top and was dangling upside down over

00:56 the edge.

00:57 All of this was great, I had a wonderful time watching it.

00:59 While there was of course interference from Zoey Stark, and I would very much prefer there

01:03 not be interference in a cage match considering that's literally the whole point of it,

01:07 it wasn't too egregious and only happened right at the end where Stark broke up a pin

01:11 after a manhandle slam, but then got slammed herself before Lynch had a second rope manhandle

01:16 slam to Trish for the pinfall win.

01:18 A really great opener.

01:20 So now, considering that this match was delayed from Summerslam, the question becomes, was

01:25 it worth it?

01:26 If this match were on the Summerslam card, would it have been given as much time, as

01:29 much of a spotlight to shine?

01:31 Is it better for the match to be on a bigger stage at Summerslam but have less of the spotlight,

01:35 or be given more time to breathe on a smaller stage like Payback?

01:39 I genuinely don't know the answer to that.

01:41 Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

01:43 The host of Payback, John Cena, then came out to introduce Payback, after the opening

01:48 match, which makes perfect sense to me.

01:50 Cena then announced that he was going to be a special guest referee for the upcoming LA

01:54 Night vs Miz match, and was then interrupted by Miz at oh no, it's 2011 WWE again.

02:00 They had a back and forth promo that was also very 2011 WWE, but it led right into the match,

02:04 which was certainly...a match.

02:07 I thought this was a really good TV match between the two, but not quite the quality

02:10 of what you'd expect on a PLE.

02:12 The main point of intrigue in the match came when Night and Cena started disagreeing a

02:16 bit, with Cena pulling Night away from the corner after a four count so the true traded

02:20 verbal barbs.

02:21 But it amounted to not a lot in the end as Night won with the BFT, which is blunt force

02:25 trauma not bacon f***ing tomato, though I think the second option would be better, and

02:30 after the match Cena endorsed Night on the ramp.

02:33 Cool.

02:34 Rey Mysterio faced Austin Theory next for the United States title, and oh my god no,

02:37 it's a Rey Mysterio match sponsored by Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

02:40 Not again.

02:41 I know people have had issues with the branded content integration in WWE, me being one of

02:45 them, but honestly the boards on the outside changing to a sponsor really isn't that

02:50 bad.

02:51 The Tron changing to a full screen Cinnamon Toast Crunch logo though, I think that's

02:55 a bit much.

02:56 Maybe that's just me.

02:57 This was also a TV match really, a solid one, better than your average SmackDown match,

03:02 but still, not quite PLE quality.

03:04 Rey Mysterio retained after he hit a 619, Theory countered the follow up splash with

03:08 the knees up, but Rey counted his A-Town down into a roll up for the win.

03:11 The OWO came out afterward and celebrated with Rey, and that was that.

03:15 It was a match, I have not much more to add.

03:17 Cathy Kelly backstage interviewed Becky Lynch, who was immediately interrupted by Tiffany

03:21 Stratton, who apologised to her for calling her a former NXT Women's Champ in a promo

03:25 on NXT, because she wasn't one.

03:27 Becky said she'd see her soon, which sounds like a pretty great program for NXT.

03:32 Up next was Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. the Judgment Day team of Damian Priest and

03:36 Finn Balor.

03:37 I think this match had the most intrigue for me going in, because I wasn't sure what

03:40 avenue they wanted to take, and I'm quite pleased with the one they took.

03:43 Pretty much as soon as the match started, the crowd started chanting "We want Tables"

03:46 and I swear that might be my least favourite thing in wrestling right now.

03:50 You'll get tables, just shut up for a bit.

03:53 You're so entitled, and even if you don't get tables, it's still going to be a great

03:57 match.

03:58 A table doesn't make it five stars.

03:59 Just shh.

04:01 Dominik Mysterio got involved relatively quickly, as anticipated, making it essentially a three

04:05 on two handicap match, but KO did a nutty dive from the crowd, through a table, onto

04:11 Dom which looked like a really rough landing.

04:13 KO also got busted open so had a pretty vivid Crimson Mask going, which actually worked

04:17 out considering he was wearing a Terry Funk tribute tank top on.

04:20 KO and Sami also did a hockey reference.

04:23 I don't watch hockey, I didn't get it, but we have someone here at WrestleTalk who

04:27 does watch hockey, so Tempest, can you explain it to me buddy?

04:31 So Payback was in Pittsburgh where the Penguins play, and Kevin Owens dressed as Mario Lemieux,

04:36 one of the greatest hockey players that has ever played the game, who wore 66, was one

04:40 of the greatest players of the 90s, won two Stanley Cups, had to retire for a while because

04:45 of cancer, and then he managed to come back in miraculous fashion and it was one of the

04:49 greatest moments in the history of the sport, and he came back, ended up being a part owner

04:53 of the team before they drafted Sidney Crosby, whose jersey was worn by Sami Zayn in this

04:58 match, and they even played together for a season.

05:00 They lived together for a season during Sidney Crosby's rookie year, and Sidney Crosby ended

05:05 up going on to become one of the greatest hockey players in the history of the sport

05:08 as well.

05:09 He won three Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and they ended up being one of the

05:13 greatest franchises ever, which is hilarious because that franchise almost went bankrupt

05:17 in the 2000s before Mario Lemieux bought it.

05:20 It's unbelievable.

05:21 These two players are tied together, and they're two of the greatest players ever, and they

05:24 both played for the same team, which is ridiculous because why did they get to draft Sidney Crosby?

05:30 They were so bad in the 2000s.

05:32 They shouldn't have been able to draft so many good players.

05:35 They got the first overall pick twice in three years, and the other year they got the second

05:40 overall pick, and those three players, Mark Lundgren, Fleury, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeny

05:44 Malkin, they all worked together to earn three Stanley Cups.

05:48 That's unbelievable.

05:49 I just want one Stanley Cup, Pete.

05:52 I just want one.

05:53 It's been almost 60 years.

05:55 Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, thank you, thank you, thank you, buddy.

05:59 I think he's got some issues.

06:01 Despite their beef going into the match, Priest and Balor were on the same page throughout

06:05 the match here, but even so, it looked like KO and Sami had the match won, hitting a Stunner

06:09 and a Halluva Kick, but the referee was pulled out by JD McDonough, who continues to try

06:14 and get in the Judgment Day's good graces.

06:16 Rhea Ripley then came out for good measure and speared KO through the barricade.

06:20 It was awesome.

06:21 So now it was essentially a five on two, but despite those huge odds, Sami Zayn looked

06:25 like he might have been able to pull it off, countering a Coup de Grace into an Exploder

06:29 and a Halluva Kick, but as he had the pin in, Dominik Mysterio nailed him with the Money

06:33 in the Bank Briefcase, knocking Sami out and Balor rolled over into the pin to win the

06:38 belt.

06:39 A great match, capped off with a great finish, inserting that Money in the Bank Briefcase

06:43 as the deciding factor once again.

06:45 Judgment Day celebrated on the ramp, holding the Women's World title, both sets of the

06:49 Undisputed Tag Titles, the North American title, and the Money in the Bank Briefcase.

06:53 It was a really cool visual, and on top of JD McDonough weaseling his way into Judgment

06:57 Day's good books, this story continues and I'm all for it.

07:00 I think this added a much needed layer to the story, and can help extend it out without

07:05 it becoming stale.

07:06 You always need fresh stuff to help keep a story going, and this is fresh and new.

07:10 But there are some ways to keep a story going that aren't as good.

07:13 On a completely unrelated note, it was the Grayson Waller effect next with Cody Rhodes,

07:18 where Cody announced that Raw has a new roster member, Jey Uso.

07:22 Jey came out, superkicked Grayson, and that was that.

07:25 Ok, so I think it's cool that Cody is the one who supposedly made it so Jey came to

07:30 Raw considering their history in the bloodline.

07:32 It reminds you of Cody vs Roman if that is still the plan to happen at next year's

07:36 WrestleMania.

07:37 But this, on top of the really underwhelming Jimmy Uso angles from SmackDown, or should

07:41 I say Jimmy Uso, does not fill me with hope about the next leg of this bloodline story.

07:46 It looks like the way they're going to extend the Jey vs Jimmy story if that really is the

07:50 plan for WrestleMania as well, is to just not have them interact.

07:54 Now before some comments say "but this is long term storytelling", no it isn't.

07:58 Because you're not telling a story, you're just ignoring a story until it becomes time

08:02 to do it.

08:03 If the two don't interact at all going forward, and then around Mania season things kick up

08:06 again, that is not a long term story that is a short term story told with a gigantic

08:11 hiatus in the middle.

08:12 I'm curious to see Jey on Raw, but I'm not exactly hopeful.

08:15 Rhea Ripley faced Raquel Rodriguez next over the Women's World title, and if it were

08:19 me I would have had this match go on before the tag title match.

08:22 With Rhea's threat on Raw being that all of JD needed to hold gold, and the fact that

08:26 they'd already done the big "JD holding all the gold" shot after the match, it kind

08:30 of made it a foregone conclusion that she was going to retain.

08:32 They very well could have done the shock swerve right after they'd done the JD holding all

08:36 the gold stuff, but I found it very unlikely.

08:38 Granted, it was unlikely that Raquel was going to win anyway.

08:41 But I do think that Rhea retaining first would lend more intrigue into the tag match as she

08:44 had secured her belt, held up her end of the deal before the bigger question mark of the

08:48 tag match, but I digress.

08:51 This match was alright.

08:52 Once again, a solid level TV match, which had a TV level match finish, where Dominik

08:57 Mysterio came out, held onto Rhea but got dragged into the ring so Raquel hit a powerslam

09:01 on him, which allowed Rhea to hit the Riptide for the win.

09:04 It was...it was a match.

09:06 John Cena was backstage next being goofy and doing...comedy.

09:09 He interviews Priest and Balor who say they've got all the gold, so they're going to celebrate.

09:13 Alright then, glad we established that thing that had already been established.

09:17 Also Cena said here that he was channeling his inner Lance Catamaran from Southpaw Regional

09:21 Wrestling, but I don't think he remembers who that character was because this was not

09:25 Lance Catamaran.

09:26 This was some nervous guy.

09:28 And lastly was the main event of Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke Nakamura for the World Heavyweight

09:32 Championship.

09:33 I saw that there was about 35 minutes left of the show when the entrances began for this

09:37 one.

09:38 I didn't realise that 20 of them would be Seth Rollins standing in the ring while it

09:40 crowd chanted.

09:41 Seriously.

09:42 This went on for ages.

09:44 Also Shinsuke Nakamura is very cool and I wish he got more to do regularly.

09:48 Commentary made sure to mention that this was Nakamura's first ever PLE/PayPerView main

09:52 event and that to me sounds absolutely insane, but every time he's challenged for the World

09:57 Title or hell even the time he won the Royal Rumble, it wasn't the main event.

10:01 So good on him I suppose.

10:02 The Great Moosa was also in the crowd here, which was a nice touch considering Nakamura

10:05 wrestled him in NOAH at the start of this year.

10:08 The story of this match was of course Seth's back.

10:11 It had been mentioned in the lead up to the match, and Shinsuke constantly worked it over

10:15 in this match.

10:16 What I really liked here was because it was the back being worked over, even more simple

10:20 moves like a suplex held so much more weight because it was all targeted specifically.

10:24 Though with this much back offence, I think Roderick Strong would be crying at home.

10:28 You know, more than normal.

10:30 This psychology permeated through the whole match.

10:33 Whether it was Rollins changing his mind about hitting his superplex Falcon Arrow combo into

10:36 a top rope Rana to protect his back more, or Seth attempting to stand up and power out

10:41 of an armbar but collapsed again because his back gave out, it all worked together seamlessly.

10:45 Shinsuke hit a keen shuster to the back of the neck, but as he waited for Seth to get

10:48 up so he could hit one to the front, Seth passed out, which the camera missed.

10:52 Sort it out Kevin.

10:53 But after some nice back and forth counters and roll ups, Seth hit the stomp out of nowhere

10:57 and retained.

10:58 And that was that.

10:59 Rollins won clean.

11:00 A very fun match and a very good story.

11:02 A great way to end.

11:04 Not earth shattering, but a very good match.

11:06 So that was Payback.

11:07 It was alright, wasn't it?

11:08 Becky vs Trish was great, the main event and the tag match were both really good, and everything

11:12 else was fine.

11:13 I guess nothing bad on this one, but nothing outstanding either, which makes me think this

11:17 is probably like a high 3 or a low 4/5, for WWE PLE standards that is.

11:22 Now check out the news surrounding CM Punk's firing from AEW.

Major Star RETURNS To WWE! WWE Payback 2023 Review | WrestleTalk

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